EASTERN DEMISE FELT BY TRAVELERS, TOURIST INDUSTRY

The failure of Eastern Airlines may have a short-term effect on tourism as travelers face higher fares and fewer available flights through Palm Beach International Airport.

"They (Eastern) brought a lot of people to this area," said Robert Levinson, owner of the Boca Raton Sheraton and member of the county Tourist Development Council. "Other airlines can't pick up the slack that fast."

While many airlines are honoring Eastern tickets, travelers are paying the difference from Eastern's discount fares of $79 one way.

"TWA wants $334 per person, one way," Gen Jenkinson of Deerfield Beach said on Saturday as she tried to find a flight to New York. "They're insane."

And most flights this week along former Eastern routes have been booked solid out of PBIA, especially those to New York's LaGuardia Airport.

Other carriers at PBIA stand to gain from Eastern's collapse, with Delta Air Lines likely to be the biggest beneficiary. When Eastern employees went on strike in 1989, Delta's market share at PBIA climbed from 27 percent to nearly 40 percent, airport spokesman Jerry Allen said.

Travel agents said passengers in coming weeks stand a better chance of getting seats on other carriers at a fare close to what they paid Eastern.

Betsy Long, owner of Tippett Travel in Boynton Beach, said she expects seats to stay fairly low, at least for the rest of the winter.